Newark cardinal: Americans should exercise ‘voluntary self-restraint’ on gun ownership for common good

WASHINGTON (OSV News) — Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin of Newark recently published a letter calling on Americans to voluntary “self-restraint” on gun ownership as part of their response to rising gun violence.

More Americans died of gun-related injuries in 2021 than in any other year on record, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This year has had more mass killings to date than any other year since 2006, according to a data analysis by USA Today, Northeastern University, and the Associated Press. High-profile mass shootings in 2023 have occurred in California, Kentucky, Tennessee and Texas.

In a May 26 letter to the faithful in his archdiocese, Cardinal Tobin said the “news is dominated by senseless mass shootings that take the lives of innocent people, often the most vulnerable and unprotected.”

“Gun violence has become so prevalent that it risks becoming commonplace, and all of us are in danger of becoming indifferent to what is one of the most serious threats to our society (neighborhoods, local communities and our nation as a whole),” he said.

Cardinal Tobin noted the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has called for action banning “assault weapons,” a term commonly referring to military-style semi-automatic weapons capable of being fed by large capacity magazines that allow a shooter a consistent rate of fire before having to reload. Cardinal Tobin pointed to the bishops’ 2020 statement, “A Mercy and Peacebuilding Approach to Gun Violence,” in which the bishops wrote, “We support measures that control the sale and use of firearms and make them safer (especially efforts that prevent their unsupervised use by children or anyone other than the owner), and we reiterate our call for sensible regulation of handguns.”

Cardinal Tobin said he strongly agrees with his fellow bishops on the need for those legislative efforts. He also argued that while legislation and regulations “are absolutely necessary,” they “are not sufficient.”

“Like all life issues, when it comes to the prevention of gun violence, we cannot legislate morality,” he said. “However, we can, and must, regulate our behavior in order to protect the vulnerable and ensure the common good.”

Cardinal Tobin argued for “a threefold process of prayer and work, advocacy and voluntary self-restraint” to address gun violence.

“Voluntary self-restraint,” he argued, “is the best thing we can do to change the culture of violence that threatens us today.”

“It’s true that we have a Second Amendment right to bear arms, but rights always involve responsibilities — in this case, the responsibility to protect the innocent and to secure public safety and good order.”

The practice of voluntary self-restraint, he wrote, also includes respectful dialogue.

“Unrestrained gun ownership is a serious threat to the weak in our communities,” he said. “Easy access to assault weapons encourages people suffering from emotional illnesses and those who have political agendas that are destructive of human rights, especially the right to life, to take out their rage on innocent bystanders and on first responders who give their lives to serve and protect our communities.”

A call to voluntary self-restraint, he added, “will not solve the problem of gun violence all by itself, but it can help us change our culture from one that is obsessively focused on individuals’ rights to a society dedicated to ensuring the common good.”

In May 2022 at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, a gunman massacred 19 children and two teachers. In response to that shooting, Congress passed a modest gun safety bill, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. The law expanded the background check system for prospective gun buyers under 21 years old, closed a provision known as the “boyfriend loophole” by banning domestic abusers from purchasing firearms regardless of their marital status, and funded new investments in mental health resources.

Now that the House is in GOP control and Congress is divided, further legislative action on gun regulation is not likely, including measures President Joe Biden is seeking, including universal background checks.

In a June 2 statement marking National Gun Violence Awareness Day, Biden said, “In the last year alone, we’ve lost more than 40,000 Americans to gun violence. Countless other survivors of gun violence will carry the trauma for the rest of their lives.”

“In the last two years, I’ve been able to sign the most significant gun safety legislation in decades and have taken dozens of executive actions,” Biden said. “But it’s not nearly enough. I will keep fighting to do everything I possibly can, but the reality is that it will take Congressional action to make the kinds of meaningful reforms we need to keep our communities safe.”

Biden, who is a Catholic, argued a “broad majority of Americans want to see commonsense reforms that would curb our gun violence epidemic — like establishing universal background checks, requiring safe storage of firearms, and finally banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.”

“It is within our power to realize a future where our malls, grocery stores, movie theaters and places of worship are safe from the threat of gun violence,” Biden said. “Where parents aren’t gripped with anxiety dropping their kids off at school every single day. Where our children don’t learn to duck and cover before they learn to read and write. But it will require Congress to act.”

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